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SAT Vocaby2
| Question | |
|---|---|
| ascendancy | N. controlling influence. Leaders of religious cults maintain ascendancy over their followers by methods that can verge on brainwashing. |
| aspire | V. seek to attain; long for. Because he aspired to a career in professional sports, Philip enrolled in a graduate program in sports management. aspiration, N. |
| assuage | V. ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger). Jilted by Jane, Dick tried to assuage his heartache by indulging in ice cream. One gallon later, he had assuaged his appetite but not his grief. |
| atrophy | V. waste away. After three months in a cast, Stan’s biceps had atrophied somewhat; however, he was sure that if he pumped iron for a while he would soon build them up. also, N. |
| attentive | ADJ. considerate; thoughtful; paying attention. Thuy is very attentive to her Vietnamese-speaking parents, acting as their interpreter and helping them deal with American society. |
| attribute | V. ascribe; explain. I attribute her success in science to the encouragement she received from her parents. |
| audacious | ADJ. daring; bold. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death-defying leap to freedom, escaping Darth Vader’s troops. audacity, N. |
| augment | V. increase; add to. Beth augmented her inadequate salary by selling Tupperware at parties at friends’ homes. |
| disparity | N. difference; condition of inequality. Their disparity in rank made no difference at all to the prince and Cinderella. |
| dispassionate | ADJ. calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgment, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess. |
| dispel | V. drive away; scatter; cause to vanish. The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist. |
| disperse | V. cause to break up; scatter. The police fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters. |
| disputatious | ADJ. argumentative; fond of arguing. Convinced he knew more than his lawyers, Alan was a disputatious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case. |
| disseminate | V. distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds). By their use of the Internet, propagandists have been able to disseminate their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe. |
| dissent | V. disagree. In the recent Supreme Court decision, Justice O’Connor dissented from the majority opinion. also N. |
| dissipate | V. squander; waste; scatter. He is a fine artist, but I fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time on such trivial pursuits. |
| dissonance | N. dissonance. Composer Charles Ives often used dissonance—clashing or unresolved chords—for special effects in his musical works. |
| dissuade | V. advise against. Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home. dissuasion, N. |
| divergent | ADJ. differing; deviating. Since graduating from medical school, the two doctors have taken divergent paths, one going on to become a nationally prominent surgeon, the other dedicating himself to a small family practice in his home town. divergence, N |
| diverse | ADJ. differing in some characteristics; various. The professor suggested diverse ways of approaching the assignment and recommended that we choose one of them. diversity, N. |
| divulge | V. reveal. No lover of gossip, Charlotte would never divulge anything that a friend told her in confidence. |
| doctrine | N. teachings, in general; particular principle (religious, legal, and so on) taught. He was so committed to the doctrines of his faith that he was unable to evaluate them impartially. |
| document | V. provide written evidence. She kept all the receipts from her business trip in order to document her expenses for the firm. also N. |
| dogmatic | ADJ. opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal. We tried to discourage Doug from being so dogmatic, but never could convince him that his opinions might be wrong. |
| dormant | ADJ. sleeping; lethargic; latent. At fifty her long-dormant ambition to write flared up once more; within a year she had completed the first of her great historical novels. |
| dubious | doubtful, questionable |
| duplicity | double-dealing, hypocrisy |
| dutiful | ADJ. respectful; obedient. The dutiful child grew up to be a conscientious adult, aware of her civic obligations. |
| ebb | V. recede; lessen. His fortunes began to ebb during the Recession. also, N. |
| eccentric | ADJ. odd; whimsical; irregular. The comet passed close by Earth in its eccentric orbit. |
| eclectic | ADJ. selective in choosing from a variety of sources. The reviewers praised the new restaurant’s eclectic selection of dishes, which ranged from Oriental stir fries to French ragouts and stews. |
| eclipse | V. darken; extinguish; surpass. The new stock market high eclipsed the previous record set in 1995. |
| effervescent | ADJ. exuberant; bubbly and excited. Nothing depressed Amy for long; she was so naturally effervescent that she was soon as high-spirited as ever. effervesce, V. |
| egotistical | ADJ. excessively self-centered; selfimportant; conceited. Typical egotistical remark: “But enough of this chit-chat about you and your little problems. Let’s talk about what’s really important: me!” egotism, N. |
| elated | ADJ. overjoyed; in high spirits. Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her fifth Olympic gold medal. elation, N. |
| eloquence | N. expressiveness; persuasive speech. The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King’s eloquence. eloquent, ADJ. |
| austerity | N. sternness; severity; strict economy; lack of luxuries. The bishops charged with conducting the heresy inquiry were a solemn, somewhat forbidding group; their demeanor reflected their austerity. austere, ADJ. |
| authentic | ADJ. genuine. The art expert was able to distinguish the authentic Van Gogh painting from the forged copy. authenticate, V. |
| authoritarian | ADJ. favoring or exercising total control; nondemocratic. Forced to obey the dictates of the authoritarian regime, the people had no control over their own destiny. also N. |
| autonomous | ADJ. self-governing. Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state university system, in many ways Cal Berkeley is autonomous, for it runs several programs that are not subject to outside control. autonomy, N. |
| aversion | N. firm dislike. Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another. |
| banal | hackneyed, commonplace |
| bane | N. cause of ruin. Lack of public transportation is the bane of urban life. |
| belle | V. contradict; give a false impression. His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his inner sensitivity. |
| belittle | V. disparage; make fun of. Parents should not belittle their children’s early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts. |
| belligerent | quarrelsome |
| benevolent | generous, charitable |
| benign | ADJ. kindly; favorable; not malignant. Though her benign smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem a sweet little old lady, in reality she was a tough-minded, shrewd observer of human nature. |
| bequeath | V. leave to someone by a will; hand down. Although Maud had intended to bequeath the family home to her nephew, she died before changing her will. bequest, N. |
| blased | ADJ. slanted; prejudiced. Because the judge played golf regularly with the district attorney’s father, we feared he might be biased in the prosecution’s favor. bias, N. |
| bland | ADJ. soothing; mild; dull. Unless you want your stomach lining to be eaten away, stick to a bland diet. blandness, N. |
| blasphemy | N. irreverence; sacrilege; cursing. In my father’s house, the Dodgers were the holiest of holies; to cheer for another team was to utter words of blasphemy. blasphemous, ADJ. |
| bolster | V. support; reinforce. The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments. |
| braggart | N. boastful person. I wouldn’t mind Bob’s being such a braggart if I felt he’d done anything worth bragging about. |
| brawn | N. muscular strength; sturdiness. It takes brawn to become a champion weight-lifter. brawny, ADJ. |
| buttress | V. support; prop up. The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to buttress his weak case. also N. |
| cacophonous | ADJ. discordant; inharmonious. Do the students in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they’re tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket, cacophony, N. |
| cajole | V. coax; wheedle. Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car. cajolery, N. |
| calculated | ADJ. deliberately planned; likely. Lexy’s choice of clothes to wear to the debate tournament was carefully calculated. Her conventional suit was one calculated to appeal to the conservative judges. |
| candor | N. frankness. The candor with which Gene spoke during the job interview impressed us all; it was clear he held nothing back. candid, ADJ. |
| capricious | ADJ. fickle; incalculable. The storm was capricious, changing its course constantly. |
| caricature | N. distortion; burlesque. The caricatures he drew always emphasized a personal weakness of the people he burlesqued. also V. |
| censorious | ADJ. critical. Censorious people delight in casting blame. |
| censure | V. blame; criticize. The senator was censured for his inappropriate behavior. also N. |
| certitude | N. certainty. Though there was no certitude of his getting the job, Lou thought he had a good chance of doing so. |
| ascetic | ADJ. practicing self-denial; austere. The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the ascetic life led by members of some monastic orders. also N. |
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